In "The Boarding House" by James Joyce, we have the theme of powerlessness, social opinion, paralysis and marriage. Taken from his Dubliners collection, the story is narrated in the third person by and unnamed narrator and what is interesting about the story is that the reader is given the point of view ... of two of the main characters in the story, Mrs Mooney and Bob Doran. Some readers will also notice that Joyce, as he does in a lot of the stories in Dubliners, is using colours (brown and yellow) to symbolise decay and paralysis. Instances of this within the story include Joyce describing...

• Word Count: 967
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity, and my eyes burned with anguish and anger." This last passage from the story "Araby" by James Joyce from Dubliners has a great amount of significance in showing and telling us the theme of the story. The theme that emerges out of this final image of despair at the end of ... wants to achieve this perfect and exciting life. His perception on how life should be is unrealistic because there is no room for love in the daily life of the Dubliners. He is extremely stuck on the idea of obtaining this fascinating life, when h...

• Word Count: 896
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate